The 12 Untrendy Pieces We Have In Our Carts For Spring As 40ish Women Who Demand Comfort AND Style
…in that order!
by The Candidly Team
In all honesty, when it comes to the cold, hard reality of getting dressed for the day, we have two priorities that come BEFORE looking chic.
Comfort
Flattering-ness
Basically, we want to feel great in our clothes, while knowing that those clothes look great on us.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t also want to look chic. Put together. “Styled” as they say. It just has to be on our own zero-effort, cozy-seeking terms.
After we turned around 35ish, we learned that nothing is more rewarding than filling our closets with clothes that pull double duty as being soft and buttery and airy and a joy to wear but also very, very flattering AND chic.
Alas, we have found 12 pieces we particularly turn to in spring that are sheer perfection in all categories. Things we wear on repeat. Practically daily. With pleasure.
And here they are:
1. This Knit Denim Layering Piece You Didn't Know Was Missing From Your Life
Z Supply All Day Knit Denim Jacket
Ok, here’s why this thing is genius as far as we’re concerned. It has all the coolness and crisp, classic lines of a jean jacket, but it’s soft and lightweight like a sweater or a hoodie. We toss it on everyday we know is gonna start cool but then turn warm, then back to cool, which makes it maybe the most problem-solving layering piece in our closet. That, and the fact that when we wear it, we look 8x more put together. Even over literal leggings, as modeled by our own in-house, non-model here.
Price: $129
2. This Buttery Soft Tank You'll Never Want To Remove From Your Skin
We don’t splurge on $500 heels or $2k handbags that’ll be out of fashion in a month. What we will do is invest in the softest, most luxurious feeling, flattering thing we wear every single day of spring and summer for under $100. And that is, of course, the tank. The whipped collection from Negative is otherworldly in terms of how it feels, but the ribbing and scooped neckline make it so gorgeously framing of our upper body, we wear it daily with jeans and skirts and loungey house fits, because it bring us continuous joy to do so … As you can see here where we paired it with our most joy-sparking, softer-than-heaven pants.
Price: $75
3. The Linen Drawstring Pants That Don't Look Like You Put In Zero Effort
Wanna be comfortable in hot weather, while still looking like someone who cares about clothes? Choose linen. Well-tailored linen pants are pretty much just pajamas parading themselves as fashion. And we are not complaining. Especially with these pants, which have that elastic waist, so our bellies live in bliss, while the full length makes our legs look longer. They also come in all the colors you could want and size up to 3X.
Price: $98
4. This Stretchy And Flattering Midi Dress
Quince Tencel Jersey Fit & Flare Dress
Off the bat, you can see how flattering the fit of this dress is, no? That scoop neck, that stretchy top that juuuuussst starts to flare at the smallest point in the waist. And then, you get all that hip, bum, and lower tum coverage without looking like you’re in a sac. The material feels like yoga pants, but the cut makes it something we can wear from work to a weekend thing, all the while feeling very polished, because hey, we’re in a dress.
p.s. It also comes in a short version that we’re wild about wearing in those scorchy months when shorts make us sad. As seen here:
Price: $50 for the midi dress, $40 for the mini dress
5. These Most Comfortable Heeled Sandals Of All Time
Nisolo Stella Go-To Block Heel Sandal
Call us high-maintenance, but we pretty much reached a point where we started to avoid all heels for fear of foot pain. And though we did admittedly miss the gorgeous, lengthening lift that heels gave us, we thought, we’d never look back. Especially when it came to sandals. But this pair changed our minds. Yes, they’re very, very pretty, and they’re timeless, and they match everything (no really, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g), but they may as well be padded slippers in terms of the comfort and cradling of our feet. We could wear them all day. We do in fact.
And we loved them so much, we asked the brand for a code, and they came through BIG time.
Use the code CANDIDLY20 to get 20% off.
Price: $170
6. This Gauzy Button-Down
J. Crew Garçon Classic Double-Gauze Shirt
If you are currently living your life without a soft, airy, springtime button-down, you are frankly missing out on one of the easiest ways to look chic on a daily basis. This magnificent one can hang open over shorts and a tank, so we don’t feel that naked way shorts make us feel. It can be elegantly tucked into any style of jeans. You can tie it at the small of your waist with any midi skirt. Or half-tuck it into drapey trousers for a summery Katharine Hepburn look. It’s all so minimalist, so understated, and so damn lazy, we love it.
Price: $44.50
7. The Skirt That Looks Parisian But Feels Like Yoga Pants
Splendid Whitney Stripe Maxi Skirt
We know, some of you will be spooked by the fitted-ness of this skirt, but if any small part of you has every longed to achieve that sleek, elongated look you get from a pencil or column skirt, then this is your moment, my friends. This skirt has the stretchiest, most smoothing “hold” out there, so you look completely nipped, but the comfort is equally impressive. It feels like your buttery leggings molded themselves into skirt-form, and still has that same, bump-melting effect. All of that, and it’s also maybe the most elegant, “French lady” item on this list. Wear it with the above button-down and the below sandals to achieve perfection.
And you can use the code CANDIDLY20 to get 20% off.
Price: $128
8. These Flats That Feel Like Nothing And Are 87X Chicer Than Flip Flops
Having come of age in the era of the flip flop, we are very keen on having a nothing-like, minimalist shoe we can slip on and forget about. But flip flops, at best, can be pretty meh, and, at worst, sort of downgrade everything we wear with them. Enter the most gorgeous substitute in the world. This sandal is light as air, and has something called a “comfort sole” that feels like walking on a cloud. But it truly elevates every single thing we wear it with.
Because they are handmade and use chemical free, natural leather by a brand that puts quality over everything, they are not cheap. However, because we will wear them 27x more often than any other sandal, and they last way longer than our sad, annual pair of flip flops, we do think they’re worthy of a one-time investment.
Price: $205
9. This Incredibly Easy Everyday Jumpsuit
Noticing a gauzy theme? Not to mention our love affair with Z Supply, which we have to say is mastering the art of making well-cut, comfy pieces we want to wear every day of our lives AND that, by the way, don’t cost a small fortune. Point is, this jumpsuit is a shining example of all of those qualities that made us love the brand. The fit is soooo curve-complementing and airy. Another thing that feels like PJs but reads like a fully styled ensemble - all by its lonesome.
Price: $89
10. This Set We Simply Will Not Shut Up About Because It’s Magically Soft And Light As Air
Z Supply Dawn Smocked Rib Pant and Zoe Silky Rib Tank Bra
You didn’t think we’d drag you all this way without telling you, our fellow “cozy people,” about the absolute softest, most silky lounge set of all time. We found it, guys. It’s a feeling we struggle to describe, but what we can say is we do not ever want to not be wearing this set. And two, frankly unexpected, cherries on top are that:
1) It’s weirdly flattering - like elongating and slimming and we don’t even look for that in house clothes, but hey, we’ll take it.
2) It’s light. So, so light that we can wear it in the dead of summer - happily. Bra is very cute, but there’s also a full top if you’re not interested in showing your belly.
Price: $59 for the pants, $34 for the bra top
11. The Chic Sneaks We Wear With Everything Including Dresses
Dr. Scholl's Time Off Platform Sneaker
We end on what we in the biz call a high note (our “biz” being sourcing the most comfortable things that fool everyone into thinking we’re fashionable). If you hang out with us, you already know what we’re gonna say about these shoes. They are the most versatile little, white sneaks that work with everything and look elegant, but I mean, they’re Dr. Scholl’s. Obviously, the support and cushioning are unreal. Not to mention, they cost half as much as all those trendy sneaks that are flooding your ads. But these ones aren’t going out of style, we predict, ever.
Price: $70
12. The Wide-Leg Jeans That Are A Dream On Curves
Madewell Curvy Superwide-Leg Jeans
Even though they’re blissfully spacious, so we feel zero restriction while wearing them, these jeans are cut to make us look longer and leaner, nipping the waist and draping for days. Pair them with a sliiiiightly cropped (or just not too long) tee, tank, or sweater, or tie your best button-down shirt at the waist, and poof, you have the flattering effect of tailored, wide-leg trousers and the casj coolness of jeans.
Price: $138
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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